Crows in goal feast

PUBLISHED: 12:45 31 August 2006 | UPDATED: 14:47 12 May 2010

ROYSTON TOWN 3 (E Kitenge,D McMurrough, S Snowden, pen) KINGSBURY L TIGERS 3 (M Leite, J Muneghina, HP Moreittz) IT WAS good news and bad news for the Crows on Tuesday night as they picked up their first league point of the season, but only after letti

IT WAS good news and bad news for the Crows on Tuesday night as they picked up their first league point of the season, but only after letting slip a two-goal lead.

While the point will be welcome for a Crows side who were hammered 7-1 at London Colney on Saturday, the game once again demonstrated the fragility of Phil Snowden's team's defence.

They have now conceded 20 goals in five competitive games, and the need for an adequate replacement for the now departed Barry White in goal has never been more evident.

Scott Statham, who started the season, never looked comfortable before picking up an injury in the FA Cup draw with Clacton Town, and his immediate replacement Russell Jones clearly does not have the experience to play at first team level.

Meanwhile, Tuesday night's debutant Desmond Asuo, while bringing off some excellent saves, would also have given Snowden some heart palpitations with a series of blunders.

The visitors looked the stronger side during the opening stages, with Pardal Kavarssanka and Yousif Elterefi both going close, while Hardy Pinto Moreittz put the ball in the net, only to see the effort ruled out for offside.

The Crows lost striker Sebastian Ndombe early in the game with a leg injury, with Dave McMurrough replacing him, and it was somewhat against the run of play that the Crows took the lead in the 36th minute.

A ball in from the right was met by a perfect header from Ely Kitenge to put the hosts ahead.

That lead was doubled shortly before the break when Dan Croenwood - who was nearly as erratic as his counterpart in the Royston goal - did well to save McMurrough's shot after a good move, only to see McMurrough net the rebound from close range.

That should have wrapped up the points for the home side, but within five minutes of the restart league newcomers Kingsbury had leveled the score.

A long-range effort from Marco Leite was only parried into the net by Asuo, and they made it 2-2 when Royston failed to clear a corner, allowing John Muneghina to net from close range.

To give the home side credit, they quickly recovered from the two-goal blast, and regained the lead in the 53rd minute when Ryan Cannon was needlessly pulled down in the box, with Stuart Snowden sending Croenwood the wrong way from the spot.

With the game now being played at a frantic pace, Tigers again leveled the score in the 62nd minute when Moreittz rose to powerfully head home Muneghina's cross.

Both teams had opportunities to snatch the three points, with Asuo bringing off a fine late save from Elterefi, but a share of the spoils was probably a fair result after an entertaining - if manic - game.